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Файл:Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories
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DRACULA’S GUEST
having looked at his watch, and found that it was close to his
dinner hour, had gone home before her complete recovery.
When Mrs. Witham was herself again she almost assailed
the Doctor with angry questions as to what he meant by putting such horrible ideas into the poor young man’s mind.
‘He has quite enough there already to upset him,’ she added.
Dr. Thornhill replied:
‘My dear madam, I had a distinct purpose in it! I wanted to
draw his attention to the bell rope, and to fi x it there. It may be
that he is in a highly overwrought state, and has been studying too much, although I am bound to say that he seems as
sound and healthy a young man, mentally and bodily, as ever
I saw – but then the rats – and that suggestion of the devil.’ The doctor shook his head and went on. ‘I would have offered to go and stay the fi rst night with him but that I felt sure
it would have been a cause of offence. He may get in the night
some strange fright or hallucination; and if he does I want
him to pull that rope. All alone as he is it will give us warning, and we may reach him in time to be of service. I shall be
sitting up pretty late tonight and shall keep my ears open. Do
not be alarmed if Benchurch gets a surprise before morning.’
‘Oh, Doctor, what do you mean? What do you mean?’
‘I mean this; that possibly – nay, more probably – we shall
hear the great alarm bell from the Judge’s House tonight,’ and
the Doctor made about as effective an exit as could be thought of.
When Malcolmson arrived home he found that it was
a little after his usual time, and Mrs. Dempster had gone
away – the rules of Greenhow’s Charity were not to be neglected. He was glad to see that the place was bright and tidy
41
BRAM STOKER
with a cheerful fi re and a well-trimmed lamp. The evening was
colder than might have been expected in April, and a heavy
wind was blowing with such rapidly-increasing strength that
there was every promise of a storm during the night. For a few
minutes after his entrance the noise of the rats ceased; but so
soon as they became accustomed to his presence they began
again. He was glad to hear them, for he felt once more the feeling of companionship in their noise, and his mind ran back to
the strange fact that they only ceased to manifest themselves
when that other – the great rat with the baleful eyes – came
upon the scene. The reading-lamp only was lit and its green
shade kept the ceiling and the upper part of the room in darkness, so that the cheerful light from the hearth spreading over
the fl oor and shining on the white cloth laid over the end of
the table was warm and cheery. Malcolmson sat down to his
dinner with a good appetite and a buoyant spirit. After his dinner and a cigarette he sat steadily down to work, determined
not to let anything disturb him, for he remembered his promise to the doctor, and made up his mind to make the best of
the time at his disposal.
For an hour or so he worked all right, and then his thoughts
began to wander from his books. The actual circumstances
around him, the calls on his physical attention, and his nervous susceptibility were not to be denied. By this time the wind
had become a gale, and the gale a storm. The old house, solid though it was, seemed to shake to its foundations, and
the storm roared and raged through its many chimneys and
its queer old gables, producing strange, unearthly sounds in
the empty rooms and corridors. Even the great alarm bell on
42
DRACULA’S GUEST
the roof must have felt the force of the wind, for the rope rose
and fell slightly, as though the bell were moved a little from
time to time and the limber rope fell on the oak fl oor with
a hard and hollow sound.
As Malcolmson listened to it he bethought himself of
the doctor’s words, ‘It is the rope which the hangman used
for the victims of the Judge’s judicial rancour,’ and he went
over to the corner of the fi replace and took it in his hand to
look at it. There seemed a sort of deadly interest in it, and as
he stood there he lost himself for a moment in speculation
as to who these victims were, and the grim wish of the Judge to
have such a ghastly relic ever under his eyes. As he stood there
the swaying of the bell on the roof still lifted the rope now and
again; but presently there came a new sensation – a sort of
tremor in the rope, as though something was moving along it.
Looking up instinctively Malcolmson saw the great rat
coming slowly down towards him, glaring at him steadily.
He dropped the rope and started back with a muttered curse,
and the rat turning ran up the rope again and disappeared,
and at the same instant Malcolmson became conscious that
the noise of the rats, which had ceased for a while, began again.
All this set him thinking, and it occurred to him that he had
not investigated the lair of the rat or looked at the pictures, as
he had intended. He lit the other lamp without the shade, and,
holding it up went and stood opposite the third picture from
the fi replace on the right-hand side where he had seen the rat
disappear on the previous night.
At the fi rst glance he started back so suddenly that he almost dropped the lamp, and a deadly pallor overspread his
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BRAM STOKER
face. His knees shook, and heavy drops of sweat came on his
forehead, and he trembled like an aspen. But he was young
and plucky, and pulled himself together, and after the pause of
a few seconds stepped forward again, raised the lamp, and examined the picture which had been dusted and washed, and
now stood out clearly.
It was of a judge dressed in his robes of scarlet and ermine.
His face was strong and merciless, evil, crafty, and vindictive, with a sensual mouth, hooked nose of ruddy colour, and
shaped like the beak of a bird of prey. The rest of the face was of
a cadaverous colour. The eyes were of peculiar brilliance and
with a terribly malignant expression. As he looked at them,
Malcolmson grew cold, for he saw there the very counterpart of the eyes of the great rat. The lamp almost fell from his
hand, he saw the rat with its baleful eyes peering out through
the hole in the corner of the picture, and noted the sudden cessation of the noise of the other rats. However, he pulled himself together, and went on with his examination of the picture.
The Judge was seated in a great high-backed carved oak
chair, on the right-hand side of a great stone fi replace where, in
the corner, a rope hung down from the ceiling, its end lying
coiled on the fl oor. With a feeling of something like horror,
Malcolmson recognised the scene of the room as it stood, and
gazed around him in an awestruck manner as though he expected to fi nd some strange presence behind him. Then he
looked over to the corner of the fi replace – and with a loud
cry he let the lamp fall from his hand.
There, in the Judge’s arm-chair, with the rope hanging
behind, sat the rat with the Judge’s baleful eyes, now intensi-
44
DRACULA’S GUEST
fi ed and with a fi endish leer. Save for the howling of the storm
without there was silence.
The fallen lamp recalled Malcolmson to himself. Fortunately it was of metal, and so the oil was not spilt. However,
the practical need of attending to it settled at once his nervous
apprehensions. When he had turned it out, he wiped his brow
and thought for a moment.
‘This will not do,’ he said to himself. ‘If I go on like this
I shall become a crazy fool. This must stop! I promised the doctor I would not take tea. Faith, he was pretty right! My nerves
must have been getting into a queer state. Funny I did not notice it. I never felt better in my life. However, it is all right now,
and I shall not be such a fool again.’
Then he mixed himself a good stiff glass of brandy and water and resolutely sat down to his work.
It was nearly an hour when he looked up from his book,
disturbed by the sudden stillness. Without, the wind howled
and roared louder than ever, and the rain drove in sheets
against the windows, beating like hail on the glass; but within there was no sound whatever save the echo of the wind as
it roared in the great chimney, and now and then a hiss as
a few raindrops found their way down the chimney in a lull of
the storm. The fi re had fallen low and had ceased to fl ame,
though it threw out a red glow. Malcolmson listened attentively, and presently heard a thin, squeaking noise, very faint.
It came from the corner of the room where the rope hung
down, and he thought it was the creaking of the rope on
the fl oor as the swaying of the bell raised and lowered it. Looking up, however, he saw in the dim light the great rat cling-
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BRAM STOKER
ing to the rope and gnawing it. The rope was already nearly gnawed through – he could see the lighter colour where
the strands were laid bare. As he looked the job was completed,
and the severed end of the rope fell clattering on the oaken
fl oor, whilst for an instant the great rat remained like a knob
or tassel at the end of the rope, which now began to sway to
and fro. Malcolmson felt for a moment another pang of terror as he thought that now the possibility of calling the outer
world to his assistance was cut off, but an intense anger took
its place, and seizing the book he was reading he hurled it at
the rat. The blow was well aimed, but before the missile could
reach him the rat dropped off and struck the fl oor with a soft
thud. Malcolmson instantly rushed over towards him, but
it darted away and disappeared in the darkness of the shadows of the room. Malcolmson felt that his work was over for
the night, and determined then and there to vary the monotony of the proceedings by a hunt for the rat, and took off
the green shade of the lamp so as to insure a wider spreading
light. As he did so the gloom of the upper part of the room
was relieved, and in the new fl ood of light, great by comparison with the previous darkness, the pictures on the wall stood
out boldly. From where he stood, Malcolmson saw right opposite to him the third picture on the wall from the right of
the fi replace. He rubbed his eyes in surprise, and then a great
fear began to come upon him.
In the centre of the picture was a great irregular patch of
brown canvas, as fresh as when it was stretched on the frame.
The background was as before, with chair and chimney-corner
and rope, but the fi gure of the Judge had disappeared.
46
DRACULA’S GUEST
Malcolmson, almost in a chill of horror, turned slowly
round, and then he began to shake and tremble like a man in
a palsy. His strength seemed to have left him, and he was incapable of action or movement, hardly even of thought. He could
only see and hear.
There, on the great high-backed carved oak chair sat
the Judge in his robes of scarlet and ermine, with his baleful
eyes glaring vindictively, and a smile of triumph on the resolute,
cruel mouth, as he lifted with his hands a black cap. Malcolmson
felt as if the blood was running from his heart, as one does in
moments of prolonged suspense. There was a singing in his ears.
Without, he could hear the roar and howl of the tempest, and
through it, swept on the storm, came the striking of midnight
by the great chimes in the market place. He stood for a space of
time that seemed to him endless still as a statue, and with
wide-open, horror-struck eyes, breathless. As the clock struck,
so the smile of triumph on the Judge’s face intensifi ed, and at
the last stroke of midnight he placed the black cap on his head.
Slowly and deliberately the Judge rose from his chair and
picked up the piece of the rope of the alarm bell which lay on
the fl oor, drew it through his hands as if he enjoyed its touch,
and then deliberately began to knot one end of it, fashioning
it into a noose. This he tightened and tested with his foot, pulling hard at it till he was satisfi ed and then making a running
noose of it, which he held in his hand. Then he began to move
along the table on the opposite side to Malcolmson keeping
his eyes on him until he had passed him, when with a quick
movement he stood in front of the door. Malcolmson then began to feel that he was trapped, and tried to think of what
47
BRAM STOKER
he should do. There was some fascination in the Judge’s eyes,
which he never took off him, and he had, perforce, to look.
He saw the Judge approach – still keeping between him and
the door – and raise the noose and throw it towards him as if to
entangle him. With a great effort he made a quick movement to
one side, and saw the rope fall beside him, and heard it strike
the oaken fl oor. Again the Judge raised the noose and tried to
ensnare him, ever keeping his baleful eyes fi xed on him, and
each time by a mighty effort the student just managed to evade
it. So this went on for many times, the Judge seeming never
discouraged nor discomposed at failure, but playing as a cat
does with a mouse. At last in despair, which had reached its
climax, Malcolmson cast a quick glance round him. The lamp
seemed to have blazed up, and there was a fairly good light in
the room. At the many rat-holes and in the chinks and crannies of the wainscot he saw the rats’ eyes; and this aspect, that
was purely physical, gave him a gleam of comfort. He looked
around and saw that the rope of the great alarm bell was laden
with rats. Every inch of it was covered with them, and more and
more were pouring through the small circular hole in the ceiling whence it emerged, so that with their weight the bell was
beginning to sway.
Hark! it had swayed till the clapper had touched the bell.
The sound was but a tiny one, but the bell was only beginning to sway, and it would increase.
At the sound the Judge, who had been keeping his eyes
fi xed on Malcolmson, looked up, and a scowl of diabolical anger overspread his face. His eyes fairly glowed like hot coals,
and he stamped his foot with a sound that seemed to make
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DRACULA’S GUEST
the house shake. A dreadful peal of thunder broke overhead as
he raised the rope again, whilst the rats kept running up and
down the rope as though working against time. This time, instead of throwing it, he drew close to his victim, and held open
the noose as he approached. As he came closer there seemed
something paralysing in his very presence, and Malcolmson
stood rigid as a corpse. He felt the Judge’s icy fi ngers touch his
throat as he adjusted the rope. The noose tightened – tightened. Then the Judge, taking the rigid form of the student in
his arms, carried him over and placed him standing in the oak
chair, and stepping up beside him, put his hand up and caught
the end of the swaying rope of the alarm bell. As he raised
his hand the rats fl ed squeaking, and disappeared through
the hole in the ceiling. Taking the end of the noose which was
round Malcolmson’s neck he tied it to the hanging-bell rope,
and then descending pulled away the chair.
When the alarm bell of the Judge’s House began to sound
a crowd soon assembled. Lights and torches of various kinds
appeared, and soon a silent crowd was hurrying to the spot.
They knocked loudly at the door, but there was no reply. Then
they burst in the door, and poured into the great dining-room,
the doctor at the head.
There at the end of the rope of the great alarm bell hung
the body of the student, and on the face of the Judge in the picture was a malignant smile.
The Squaw
Nurnberg at the time was not so much exploited as it
has been sin ce then. Irving had not been playing Faust, and
the very name of the old town was hardly known to the great
bulk of the travelling public. My wife and I being in the second week of our honeymoon, naturally wanted someone
else to join our party, so that when the cheery stranger, Elias
P. Hutcheson, hailing from Isthmian City, Bleeding Gulch,
Maple Tree County, Neb. turned up at the station at Frankfort,
and casually remarked that he was going on to see the most allfi red old Methuselah of a town in Yurrup, and that he guessed
that so much travelling alone was enough to send an intelligent, active citizen into the melancholy ward of a daft house,
we took the pretty broad hint and suggested that we should
join forces. We found, on comparing notes afterwards, that we
had each intended to speak with some diffi dence or hesitation so as not to appear too eager, such not being a good compliment to the success of our married life; but the effect was
entirely marred by our both beginning to speak at the same
instant – stopping simultaneously and then going on together again. Anyhow, no matter how, it was done; and Elias P.
Hutcheson became one of our party. Straightway Amelia and
I found the pleasant benefi t; instead of quarrelling, as we had
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